Mixed reactions to Talansky crash, Gerrans argues he wasn’t at fault

Vaughters: “Physically he is all right. It is incredibly lucky, quite frankly”

By Shane Stokes - July 12, 2014

Team kit torn, skin red and language turning blue; Andrew Talansky was, to say the least, unimpressed with Simon Gerrans at the finish of stage seven of the Tour de France on Friday.

The duo crossed over each other during the final sprint to the line in Nancy, with Talansky’s drift left and Gerrans’ move to the right causing an overlap of wheels and sending the American pinwheeling to the floor. He tumbled on the tarmac, his bike being tossed in the air, and then came to rest in a disorientated heap.

Afterwards, it was clear who he felt was to blame.

Talansky was escorted back to the team bus by one of Garmin-Sharp’s soigneurs and he spent that short journey explaining just why he felt Gerrans was in the wrong. “He took me out for eighth place…what a joke that guy is,” he said, loudly adding that he deserved an apology.

Once back outside the bus, he quickly got on board. He later pushed aside the concealing curtain, descended the steps and threw his leg over a bike to complete a cool-down beside that vehicle, but then re-entered the vehicle without saying a word to the media. It was a clear no comment.

Team manager Jonathan Vaughters explained soon afterwards that the team’s top GC contender would not be speaking to the press. “He’s a little upset right now,” Vaughters said with some degree of understatement.

Instead, the former pro gave his own views. “Simon did come over on him. He moved over in the last 200 metres, which you are not supposed to do,” he insisted, albeit with some restraint and diplomacy. “The guys who were sprinting today are not your top, top field sprinters, so normally you would expect a little bit of a safer sprint.

“At the end of the day, I think that was an opportunity to win a stage for Gerrans. He put it all on the line, took some risks, whereas Andrew was just trying to get out of the way. And that was a little bit incompatible.

“It is unfortunate as you are trying to move out of the way, that you actually get taken out.”

A replay of the crash showed that both riders did indeed move towards each other. Talansky was several feet to the right of the centre line on the roadway, and drifted over to and across that line during his gallop.

Gerrans was also completely parallel to the barriers. He accelerated past Talansky but then swung across too soon and hit the American’s front wheel.

And that was that, at least for Talansky.

“It is unfortunate for him, but he is okay,” said a relieved Vaughters. “Physically he is all right, which is incredibly lucky, quite frankly.

“He just lost a little bit of lost skin. But if you look at how hard he went down, it is amazing that it is just that little bit of lost skin.”

Interviewed by the SBS Cycling Central crew afterwards, Gerrans was adamant that he was not to blame. “As you saw, we were in a pretty select group sprinting for the win there,” he stated. “I just saw the footage afterwards, I saw that Talansky went down.

“From what I saw, he looked over his right shoulder as I was coming from the left, and unfortunately fell over my back wheel.

He believed that the replay would show the truth about the matter. “I think that once he sees what happened too…you could see that I move from the left to the right and he was moving from the right to the left and he just fell over my back wheel.”

The duo will likely speak before the start of Saturday’s eight stage. That will give an opportunity to clear the air. In some ways the delay might be a good thing, as feelings were certainly running high on Talansky’s part afterwards.

General classification plans remain intact:

Talansky showed superb form last month when he snatched victory from under Alberto Contador’s nose at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

He went clear in an early break, built a large advantage, and then fought hard on the final climb to stave off the Spaniard’s desperate pursuit.

It was an excellent victory and underlined that he is a rider who must be watched at all times. His preferred terrain is the mountains, and he will reach that playground over the next few days.

If things go to plan he’ll shine on the climbs. Vaughters acknowledges that he will not feel 100 percent on Saturday due to stiffness, but thinks he will get through the stage.

“He is going to be a little bit stiff tomorrow. Luckily we are not in the hard, hard, hard mountains tomorrow. But I think other than that he will be fine.

“I was really worried about it [the crash] when I saw it. But now that I have seen him and talked to him, I realise that he is fine.”

Saturday’s stage concludes with a category three drag up to the line at Gérardmer la Mauselaine. Sunday’s race is very lumpy, but ends with a long downhill and then a flat run in to the line.

It is the third stage in the Vosges which could really play in his favour. Monday’s concluding ascent to La Planche des Belles Filles is a summit finish, a steep climb which could give him a platform to use his power.

“It is going to be good for him,” Vaughters predicted. “At the end of the day, Andrew’s best on really hard stuff after three weeks of racing. He will be better the longer the race goes on.

“He is not the most explosive of these guys, but you know…he moved up two or three places today, even though he crashed.”

Talanksy is sitting two minutes five seconds behind race leader Nibali, who grabbed the yellow jersey early on when he won stage two in Britain. Vaughters said that it is conceivable that the Italian could hold on from such a long way out, but that it was impossible to say.

“Yeah, he can. I don’t know whether he will, but he is certainly physically capable of it and his team is showing to be very strong,” he said. I don’t see any reason why not…you know he has got a big head start on everyone.

“At at the same point in time, we have seen Nibali crack a lot this year too. So that could happen as well…”

The big race favourite Chris Froome has already gone out due to injuries sustained in crashes on days four and five. Vaughters said that there are several others who could win, and who must all be watched.

“Obviously Contador is going to go uphill really fast,” he said. “He has maybe fallen off everybody’s radar a tiny bit because of the time he has lost, but that means he is just going to be that much more aggressive in the mountains.

“Kwiatkowski is looking good as well. Beyond that, you have got Rui Costa kind of kicking around in there a little bit. And Richie, Richie Porte. I think the race is amongst those guys.”

There’s one more too, the rider who got snarled up in Friday’s finishing sprint clash. “And Andrew. Obviously Andrew,” he added.

Gerrans did nothing wrong. It wasn’t an aggressive move. He was simply coming across. The rules are pretty vague for this kind of stuff but in reality a guy is not responsible if you clip his rear wheel unless he is moving wildly. But what is wild?

Talansky wasn’t even paying attention to what was happening. Why was he even there in the first place? Chill at the back, bud. You get the same time and there is nothing but risk for you at the front.

Harsh but true

Who looks behind in the middle of a sprint?
Schoolboy error.
Suck it up Princess. Get on with failing to fulfil your supposed potential.

Rupert

why the insult? Keep it nice

Sean

He wasn’t even moving across the road when Talansky hit him. Talansky moved into him, it’s clear on the slow motion repalys. Gerrans only started moving across to sagan after Talansky took a dive.

Mac

You must be a real hard man able to mix it with the big boys…….?

astromo

“The rules are pretty vague for this kind of stuff” …

Not really if you check the wording. I reckon what’s vague is the arbitrary and lax nature of their application.

According to that report, Cav sloped away from the Stage 1 crash without penalty:
“But, by the same token, rider protests and official complaints are rare in races such as the Tour.”

There’s nothing earth shattering in the piece but it does highlight the role of the official and unofficial rules.

Samaway

Actually the rules are clear as day, but aren’t systematically enforced in practice (as described here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ6j01tPmEg). In rule, Gerrans should be relegated, but according to practice, one has to wonder why Talansky was rubbernecking the last 500 meters of a sprint finish. I don’t think anyone is to blame, personally, just another confused moment in bike racing.

Vegetarian Calgarian

Woohoo Alberta!

Russ Olson

I agree. What Vaughters fails to mention is that it is also very unsafe to look behind you in the last 200 meters of a sprint. I can’t believe he is even hinting at Gerrans’ fault. In my opinion, he should go back in the bus and tell Talansky to stop throwing temper tantrums when things go wrong. I love his grit, but it’s hard to cheer for a prima donna.

Dave

Especially to look in one direction and weave in the other.

But what would Vaughters know about sprinting against other cyclists? He was so doped up that a more appropriate opponent would have been Valentino Rossi.

Abdu

Does Vaughters even know what he’s talking about? Either back your rider and say Gerrans was in the wrong, or step back and admit it was a sprint and both riders shared equal fault. So sick of JV taking a soft line, whether it’s never acknowledging his past as a dope cheat and Lance lieutenant, or simply standing up for his team riders.
Talansky needs to understand if he’s competing in a sprint (which he was), then it’s full gas and hard racing. If he doesn’t want that, he should sit up and get out of the way.
Glaring difference in the class and quality of person when Gerro gets headbutted and taken out by Cav, yet doesn’t whine and just lets Cav apologise. Here, Talansky sounds like a sook, and is wrong…where is the supposed tough guy people made him out to be, I can’t see it?

Sean

Vaughters is a lying doper who spent 2 years on the drugstrong team. It’s in his DNA to deceive, hence his uninformed, dishonest and evasive answers.

I loved how Talansky raced in the dauphine this year, was hoping for more of the same aggressive attitude over the next two weeks. But i’m afraid it looks like we’re only going to be getting the cry baby version, what the heck was with his little out burst after the stage. Surely he was aware he rode into a back wheel whilst looking at the other side of the road. Was he zombied out on pain killers or something?

Tonight should be a good stage, I hope he pulls up ok and has a dig.

Raskoln

Sean, do an ‘Armstrong’ and attack the character, not look at the issue at hand – and so Vaughters, who as much as anyone in the pro-ranks has made genuine efforts to help clean up cycling, you reduce to “a lying doper . . . whose DNA is to deceive.” What an ugly and nasty response.
I think both riders were at fault, and I also realise Vaughters is trying to man-manage a perhaps difficult team leader. He’s not in a neutral position, firstly regarding his emotional reaction to the incident, and secondly regarding how what he says impacts on his relationship with Talansky and Garmin’s team chances.

Sean

He rode on cheat teams, doped for years and then employed a lot of dopers who only come out of the closet when they had too. In a lot of peoples minds that leaves him compromised. Right or wrong, that’s how it is.

I think some reflection on his perceived lack of character and history in the sport is fair, after all it will follow him for life. For this reason, I don’t think we can ever take him seriously when interviewing in an uninformed, dishonest and evasive manner.

Do you think taking drugs and cheating in sport is a sign of a compromised character?

Did his language and demeanour in the TV interview remind you of anything?

In saying that, I agree compared to his peers he’s been responsible for a lot of positive things toward cleaning up the sport. He/his team has also contributed more than most toward the development of young riders.

Lets move on. I prefer to see Talansky racing and not sooking over Gerrans back wheel being in his way as he darts across the road blindly.

Abdu

Watch the tape – Talansky was looking around, his eyes were looking right as he shifted left into Gerrans. The fact is too, he was behind and clipped Gerrans’ wheel, so the onus is on Talansky to 1. look where he is going, and 2. not clip the wheel in front.

Talansky also seems to have trouble staying upright. He fell over again last night in Stage 8.

justanotheropinion

My armchair thoughts whilst watching was that nearly all the crashes in this stage seemed to happen near or on white lines and I wonder if these did have some part to play ? but I am sure the riders would have said something buy now.

Sean

Most crashes during the Tour have happened on roads, perhaps they should be removed? I’m not attempting to make a sweeping statement here, I realise a few crashed occurred on mud and grass the other day.

Seems the cobbles is the only safe place to race these days – no serious crashes… hmmm

Massimo Pedinare

I wonder if Zak has an opinion on this, or maybe he’s just content that tonight’s stage goes to the mountains.

Sean

His was mud and grass.

Marase Parase

It was clearly his fault which luckily did not take anyone else down. But no lesson learned as he caused another fall taking down two other GC contenders with him today in stage 8. Someone should give him lesson on riding a bike in a pack.

The joke is on those of us who take Vaughters seriously. He’s a provocateur. Talinsky was clearly caught out. He was looking around before drifting to the left while the race was moving to the right.

By the way, did you see Talansky’s 180 on Simon prior to S8?

OldTrackCodger

Glad I read these comments! After watching it it seemed to me that Talansky was pretty much holding the line of the leading riders, with a bit of moving around by everyone, but mostly taking the same line. He moves out to his left a bit, but so did the Cannondale rider immediately behind him. When he went down, he and the riders in front and beside him were moving a little to their left was how it looked to me. Given that Gerrans moved from his far left of the group before Talansky fell to his far right as he crossed the line, I thought he might at least apologise to Talansky. I was surprised he didn’t run into another ride on the way across.

But now I can see my errors. Talansky is a princess, a cry-baby sissy who can’t stay upright on his bike and had absolutely no right to be up there with the big boys, the SPRINTERS. Some might have thought that he did pretty well to get through the previous crash and stay with the SPRINTERS, but I see now that he had no right to be there, even though he was able to stay with some pretty fast SPRINTERS. Then there’s his association with Vauters. Its not just that Vauters was a doper, an associate of Armstrong, and a know-nothing provocateur but he even took “a soft line”. Talansky shouldn’t be racing if that’s the kind of company he keeps.

So I’m thinking of drafting a couple of new rules for UCI approval. Obviously, riders not designated as SPRINTERS may not come within 500 m of the finish line until all SPRINTERS have crossed the line. I can see that that’s going to mean that only a SPRINTER can win a stage and on some stages there might be delays while all the SPRINTERS get themselves to the finish. Break-aways will be pretty pointless, unless they’re SPRINTERS. And teams needn’t include hill-climbers because even mountain top finishes can only be contested by SPRINTERS. Any suggestions on how we could write these new rules? Keep it polite, please.

I am not going to get into the whole he’s at fault, they’re at fault argument. Couldn’t be bothered.

However, I think you’ve got to cut Talansky some slack.

I can’t think of too many other sports that are as physically and mentally demanding as professional cycling, let alone cycling’s biggest race. Emotions run high. Having a microphone shoved under one’s nose can always lead to an interesting sound bite.

The guy has come a cropper and within minutes, whilst still in his tarmac shredded knicks and yet to be properly attended to medically, been asked by some journalists what happened? Who was at fault?

Of course he might come across a little aggressive in his response. He might be quick to point the finger. Has the guy even seen a replay of what happened?

astromo

There’s joint culpability at play from my take of the footage. If you look at Gerro’s position from before the tangle to where he crosses the line he’s traversed from the left side of the road over to right hand barrier. There is a rule about holding your line in the sprint and I think the intent is that it should be parallel with the edges of the road not at a diagonal across it. Given the experience with Cav’s head butt on Stage 1, there’s some irony at play here.

However, Talansky, as @Harsh but true correctly points out, was gazing over his right shoulder not looking straight ahead. So no wonder he didn’t see Gerro coming from the left and no wonder he drifted to the right into Gerro’s back wheel.

I reckon both rider’s deserve a caution but that’s about it. Talansky who (and this is 1 time where I think Phil Ligget has got it right) was about 80% at fault, was lucky enough to get a bit of road rash as a wake up call and that’s all. The dude should calm down and take a leaf out of Cav’s (who seems to have matured somewhat) book and just apologise for being a dill.

RacingCondor

This is about how I read it too. Gerro clearly moves across the whole width of the road and takes Talansky’s wheel on the way (i.e. moves across too early) but it was so easily avoidable had Talansky been looking where he was going instead of taking a long look over the wrong shoulder…
A quiet word to both of them is all that should happen though.

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